I Believed
by greenshade15
Summary: Hiccup is just beginning to settle into the role as chief and Berk is slowly returning to normal. However, there is a7 troubled soul on Berk whom is silently suffering. So when everybody's struggling, she's pushing through. When everyone's lost, she finds the way and when we falter, she picks us up. The problem is, after she's done all that, who picks Fearless Astrid Hofferson up?
1. Chapter 1: Appear Normal

_With so many wonderful stories about HTTYD 2, I decided to write my own little story. I hope you guys like it! Any suggestions, comments, anything is highly welcomed. Hope you guys enjoy!_

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She watched him, from the highest hill on Berk, called Berk's Point, as he walked through the village with a pencil in his mouth, flipping through the pages in his notebook. She saw him squint, flail his arms, pet his best friend and nod at villagers in the dimming sunlight. Yet there she stood, with her back against the orange warm glow and the strong wind blowing against her. If it was not for Stormfly's body near her for her to lean on, she would be gone with the wind. But she loved it up there on the highest peak, the wind was always strong and cool against her skin. The grass was warm and soft underneath her and if she turned herself around, she would be witnessing another beautiful sunset reflection on the sea.

It's been 2 weeks since she bid her future father-in-law goodbye. 2 weeks since the introduction of her future mother-in-law and 2 weeks since she officially took over the academy and lead the construction on the west side of Berk. But what hurt her the most was that it has been 2 long, agonizing weeks since she lost half of her to Drago and stood whole on Berk's Point.

A sigh silently escaped her lips as she stopped her petting and mounted Stormfly.

"Let's get you feed. We'll come back tomorrow after work." Astrid softly announced as they ascended to the air. Softly landing in the their backyard, she obtained 4 whole chickens and a small basket of fish from their basement for Stormfly. "Thank you for today girl, you did amazing. Rest up. We have another big day tomorrow." She told her blue scaled companion. Stormfly squawked and nuzzled her in reply before gulping down her dinner.

Thanks to the gods, the Hofferson Hall was positioned on the eastside of Berk and only needed a new roof instead of being completely rebuilt. Not only was it dinner time for Stormfly but for the Hofferson family as well. As she sat in her chair, she watched her father talk quietly to her oldest brother, Archibald, about more construction and how her sister-in-law, Bridge, was trying to seat her 3 year old daughter , Ainsley and 5 year old son, Alisdair. Her mother, sat down right next to her after placing the final jugs of water and mead onto the table. Her father, Aodhan, began the prayer to the Gods and they finally began to eat their meal.

The weeks of construction was taking it's toll on everyone one, even the fearless Hofferson clan. Everyone woke up at dawn to reconstruct homes for the rest of the villagers and for Aodhan, a council meeting was held at lunch. For her brother and her it was constructing stables and feeding grounds for the new population of dragons after at least 2 houses were constructed. Bridge and her mother were sent to Great Hall to feed and care for the hungry and tired vikings.

"Stop! For one night please, I do not want to hear another word about building this or getting that." Ingrid Hofferson exclaimed, glaring at her open mouthed husband.

"Yes dear." Aodhan replied.

"So dear," Her mother addressed her, "why are you eating with us instead of with your future family?" She asked.

Astrid quickly placed her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from spewing out half of her chewed fish onto Alisdair. She quickly swallowed and whispered, "Not for a while."

"What was that?" Aodhan questioned, waving his fork in the air.

"Not for a while Da. He's still getting used to his mom and everything else."

"But, thank Thor, it has already been 5 years. If Stoick was here-"

"WELL HE'S NOT DAD!" Astrid angrily yelled, not even minding the young children in front of her. "He won't ever be here, and I am sorry you lost one of your dear friends, but he's not coming back okay! He won't witness the proposal, the wedding or even hold his grandchildren, heaven forbid the gods even let Hiccup come marry me before another war begins or he gets betrothed to someone else!" She loudly huffed to herself as she gave her father her signature glare for even mentioning Stoick. But after a few seconds of silence she apologized, "I'm sorry Da, everyone, I should have...controlled myself better."

Everyone was silent, staring at their fuming golden viking. A quiet voice broke the silence, "But Hiccup has to marry you, he said he would." Alisdair spoke. Astrid gave soft, sad chuckle and replied "Yea, he told me that too." Astrid then rose, purposely scrapping her chair against the stone floor, had one last gulp of water, and thanked her mother and Bridge for dinner, before grabbing her trusty double edged ax and left into the darkness.

"She's never yelled like that at me before." Aodhan stated, still stunned by his daughter's outburst.

"What do you expect dear, Stoick was like a second father to her. She's losing everything she loves." Ingrid sadly replied.

"She's not losing us." Aodhan proudly announced, "We're with the lass thick and thin."

"I'm not talking about us, Aodhan." Ingrid huffed.

"Will she lose Hiccup?" Archibald whispered the unspeakable question into his cup of mead that was against his lips, but everyone heard it and it was just a matter of time before they knew the answer to his question. In the next few moons, just a few weeks before Snoggletog, a meeting with the all of the allied chiefs will be arriving to discuss Hiccup's future and Stoick's departure. It was to see whether they would except Hiccup as Berk's new chief and continue their peace treaties or break all connections. The whole village knew the toll the visit was taking on Hiccup and whatever affected Hiccup affected Astrid.

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In the silence of the Hofferson hall, the only sounds that could be heard would be the soft clanging of utensils on dinnerware and shuffling of feet against the floorboards. However, it was the occasional sad croon from stormfly outside the kitchen window that made the whole family, especially Aodhan exhale deeply with worry for their golden viking.


	2. Chapter 2: Be In Charge

**_Author's Note: _**_I am so sorry for such the neglecting this story. It has been a crazy past few months but I promise you I will finish it. First my dad's workplace moved their headquarters to a new state instead of into the empty building across town, as was planned, so my family and I had to pack up and leave. It was also too late to apply for the colleges nearby my parents' new house, so I ended up having to move into my sister's house after helping my parents move in order for me to stay in school….and let's just say i miss my mother's famous mac and cheese, however my brother-in law's chicken parmesan is to die for. Then, after all that moving and settling in... I found out that I am getting a nephew! So my sister and my brother-in-law had to get a new house because we can not fit 5 people and 4 huge dogs in the place she lives in now. So here comes moving again. My sister's new house is wonderful and perfect and we have just got everything finished a few weeks ago, especially setting up the internet, and now I am just helping with the nursery and have you ever tried to explain to a 4 year that she is getting a brother? I dont know about you guys, but it was really tough explaining to her about moving and everything when she thinks boys are icky. Life's back to normal now and everything is great...well besides taking tests...so there you go, sorry if you didnt want to read any of that, but I hope you guys understand that has been crazy these past few months...forgive me. Please enjoy reading, and if you have any comments, complaints or anything at all just please tell me, I am open to everything._

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"Stay!" Astrid commanded as she stalked off to the the forest beyond her backyard fence. She could hear Stormfly's worried calls behind her, but she knew her dragon would be obedient and stay. She wanted no one's pity, no one's apologies and no one's company except for the trees around her.

If her arms had a mind of their own, they would have detached themselves and hid from her for all eternity. She could barely hoist her axe onto her back. All of her muscles were crying out as she stared at the enormous pile of chopped wood in front of her. "Great! Enough to build one wall tomorrow." She happily exclaimed between heavy breaths. Her muscles were vibrating with a wonderful, painful ache that she loved. Looking at the moon, she could already tell it was past midnight and most, if not all, of the vikings should already be asleep. For Astrid, however, it was a perfect time to take a bath to wash off the clingy sweat and the deep grim on her skin from constructing houses all day. Unlike the other vikings who waited for Lordag (wash day) , she liked to feel clean after every intense workout, which Snotlout found stupid.

When all was done and she was up in her room, readying for bed, Astrid decided one last look out of her bedroom window- which overlooked the rest of Berk,- to mentally take notes on what needed to be done tomorrow. The north of Berk, which took the most heat from the Bewilderbeast, was almost finished, except for the occasional dragon stable here and there that needed to be constructed, especially with the increase of dragons living with them. The East was only 45% done and the west was 30% done. While the south, center and port were finished a few days ago. But with everyone permanently tired from the weeks of endless constructing, she Berk would not be fully complete for another month.

As she turned to walk back to bed, she noticed someone flying near the Stoick's newly constructed head. Thanks gods for the large torchlights that illuminated Stoick's statue in a gold aura, she could make out who that someone was. Hiccup. She could see him wildly flailing his arms as it appeared he was talking to Stoick, while Toothless hovered near his nose. Letting out a sigh, she decided that Hiccup needed to be alone and talk to his father then enjoy her company, after all she has seen him talk to the magnificent statue before over the past few weeks that it appeared normal. After all she still talked to her Uncle Finn's favorite sparring tree. "Goodnight Hiccup." She softly whispered to the air before crawling into bed and falling asleep.

"ASTRID! WE NEED MORE WOOD TO FINISH THE ROOF!" yelled Eret from the ground below.

"Fishlegs and Snotlout are getting more right at the moment and once-"

"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!"

"FISHLEGS AND SNOTLOUT ARE GETTING IT!"

"OH! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT BEFORE!"

"I DID!"

"OH!"

Astrid groaned loudly from up in the air, knowing that Eret wouldn't be able to hear her. "LUNCH AFTER THIS HOUSE IS FINISHED!" she hollered, cupping her hands around her mouth so that the twins, who were just appeared, and nearby builders heard her. Just as she was about to guide Stormfly to the eastside of Berk to check out the construction progress, she saw her father running towards her waving his hands.

"Down girl," she asked stopping just a few feet in front of her father, "Yes Da?"

"Morning Lass. I just came back from a meeting with the council and Hiccup was wondering if you could increase the westside construction of Berk?" Her father calmly asked.

"We are going as fast as we can, would he rather we stop all construction in the north to speed up the west?"

" No need to be sassy. I am just the messenger. I know your in charge, but I think that would be best, or at least bring the fastest builders over there. Families living in the west are fearful that their halls won't be finished before winter."

"We still have 3 more months before winter even begins! They should be worried about harvesting and destroying that damn Ice."

"Astrid, you and I both know that we are lucky we live on the hill and was untouched during the war…"

"Fine, I'll send half of the north builders to the west, the north is almost done anyway."

"I'll tell Hiccup... thank you lass." Aodhan nodded at her in farewell and began to walk his way back to the great hall.

"Why didn't Hiccup come ask me himself?" Astrid tried to calmly ask her father, but her insides were churning as she watched him turn around again, his face showed no emotion, but his eyes were filled with concern.

"You know how busy he is Astrid, he-"

"Nevermind, don't even bother finishing that sentence, tell him I'll be right on it." Astrid announced and took off into the air.

Aodhan could only watch, angry and upset at the gods for making Astrid's life complicated. As he continued to watch her till she was barely a dot into the sky, he whispered to the gods above, "Please have mercy on my dear daughter, don't make her suffer anymore." and when he turned back around he knew the gods had listened when he saw a black streak stream through the blue sky.

The gods seemed to enjoy filling Astrid's life with hardship as she was tossed here and there throughout the day: Bucket wanted a new addition to his already finished house and demanded builders, fishing needed to be done to restock the feeding stables, timberjacks had left for lunch and the construction had to stop for awhile due to the lack of wood, which caused villagers to become angry and Astrid was just a few more ticks away from taking her axe out on Mulch if it wasn't for Fishlegs beside her to calm her down. But all that was over and she and the rest of the teens were sitting in the Great Hall enjoying their dinner and the end of a long construction day.

Astrid was just about to finish her stew when she was summoned by Valka. Over the past few months Astrid had learned a lot about Hiccup's long lost mother and vice versa for they have created a mutual bond with one another over the love they shared for Hiccup, dragons and Stoick. But Astrid still held her tongue from lashing out at Valka for never returning to Berk and for being so easily forgiven by Hiccup. Heck, she still did not even forgive herself for not standing up for Hiccup earlier in their childhood, had she not been so focused on becoming a true viking like her parents, he would have had a better beginning. However, out of respect for the late chief's wife and being Hiccup's mother she was polite and mindful of the lady.

She pushed her bowl to the middle of the table knowing that one of the twins would either finish it or pour it on someone as she left to see what Valka needed.

"Hello, Valka," Astrid gently said, "you called for me?"

"Dear Astrid, I was wondering if you could deliver this to Hiccup?" Valka politely asked, pushing a tray filled with a bowl of lamb stew, fish, bread and a cup of mead towards her.

"Um, why? Shouldn't he be here eating with you and the rest of counsel?" she questioned and turned her head to see Gobber coughing up pieces of already chewed chicken from his mouth. Knowing he was fine, she focused back on Valka, who was now placing some more food onto Hiccup's tray.

"He said he had some unfinished business to attend to and will not be able to make it. He and Toothless have been up at the house since lunch and put me in charge of the village for the rest of the day." Valka replied as she placed one last piece of chicken breast onto the tray as Gobber nodded beside her, as if Astrid needed someone to clarify Valka's statement.

"Yea, Okay." Astrid stated and took the tray. She just nodded her head in reply as Valka said her thanks and continued to talk to the rest of counsel.

As Astrid walked away, she heard her father's voice and focused on the conversation counsel was having. It appeared that Berk would be filled with numerous amounts of people from other villages and tribes to celebrate Hiccup being Chief, to say farewell to Stoick and to learn about the war with Drago. Astrid knew such an event would happen after all, her father spoke of the upcoming celebration during dinner a few weeks ago. She walked past her house, seeing her brother's family having dinner through the window and continued up the hill to the Chief's Hall.

Just as she was about to knock on the door to announce her presence, it opened widely revealing a large ebony head with excited emerald eyes.

"Happy to see you too, Toothless," She exclaimed patting her second favorite dragon on the head as she closed the door with her foot. Toothless just cooed in response and nudged her again, wanting more affection.

"Alright, just let me put this on the table before it goes all over the floor, you ninny." Just

as she placed the tray onto the table she was attacked by the alpha who was in need of some loving. "Okay, okay, I have to go Toothless." Astrid stated softly, worried that Hiccup would be disturbed from whatever business he was doing upstairs as Toothless continued to coo at her for more pats. "You'll tell him that his dinner is waiting for him on the table, and please do not eat it like last time." She said sternly as she watched Toothless nod his head in understanding and sat tall and proud as if the task of telling Hiccup his dinner was downstairs was the most important thing in the world. Astrid chuckled and gave him a farewell pat before walking towards the door, but just as soon as her hand reached the doorknob…

"Astrid?" He called out.

Astrid froze and for the first time in her life she felt like fleeing instead of fighting. But with a silent exhale, she steeled her features and turned with a beaming smile as she replied happily to the man, "Hey Hiccup!"

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-_Hello There, I hoped you enjoyed the second chapter! Thank you again for reading, commenting, or just simply just passing through. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and an amazing week. I'll try my best to update weekly and have no fear the main point of the story is coming together. Farewell! Hope you have a spectacular monday._


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